As an EU agency operating under the authority of the Council of the European Union, EDA embodies the intergovernmental dimension of EU defence.
EDA’s activities span across the full defence capability spectrum: from identifying needs and priorities to agreeing requirements and laying the groundwork for their development. The Agency also covers research, technology and innovation, operational experimentation, training and support for EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations.
EDA acts as a military voice representing the position of the Member States in EU single market policies affecting defence, such as chemical regulations (REACH) or the Single European Sky.
The Agency also works closely with the European defence industry to strengthen Europe’s defence technological and industrial base (EDITB). Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has demonstrated how quickly new technologies can move from concept to battlefield, making it all the more urgent to translate Europe’s research and innovation into operational defence capabilities.
2026: Strengthening the Agency
In 2025, the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030 underlined EDA’s indispensable role in capability development, collaborative procurement, dialogue with the defence industry and defence innovation.
In October 2025 and March 2026, EU leaders called for a strengthened European Defence Agency that is better equipped for supporting Member States in defence. The stronger mandate, approved by the Ministers of Defence in 2026, is built around four areas:
- reinforcing research, technology, innovation and experimentation
- expanding capability development work
- establishing a collaborative procurement centre
- strengthening policy support to Member States and in view of external partnerships
The Agency is establishing two new centres:
- The Centre for European Defence Innovation (CEDI), with an expanded role and a structured portfolio of defence innovation activities.
- The EDA collaborative defence procurement centre, which will focus on services and off-the-shelf equipment, with the capacity to manage multiple projects simultaneously. It will complement, not duplicate, the work of other procurement agencies in Europe.
EU leaders also tasked the Agency to coordinate the drafting of the Annual Defence Readiness report, which provides a consolidated assessment of Europe's progress towards defence readiness by 2030.
The new actions and tasks represent a significant reinforcement of the Agency’s capacity to deliver on EU’s Defence Readiness 2030 objectives.
The steps to strengthen the Agency follow a long-term review from 2024.
2024: Long Term Review
As strategic guidance given to EDA, the 2024 Long-Term Review adopted by Ministers of Defence outlines the following core tasks for the Agency, with a stronger focus on supporting Member States through the full development cycle of military capabilities:
- Identifying shared needs and priorities at EU level to ensure that EU Member States’ armed forces have the capabilities they actually require.
- Enabling collaborative defence research, technology, and innovation, to prepare the future of EU defence.
- Harmonising requirements and engaging in joint capability development, while ensuring interoperability.
- Aggregating demand towards joint procurement, to fill capabilities shortfalls.
- Interfacing with EU civilian and defence policies, voicing Ministries of Defence's joint positions.
The first four core tasks reflect the corresponding, indispensable steps of the capability development cycle. In line with the Treaty on European Union, EDA supports Ministries of Defence (MoDs) in each of these steps towards the further development and procurement of capabilities. But EDA can also support the execution of the whole project cycle, including limited, off-the-shelf acquisitions, when ministries so decide.
Under the fifth core task, EDA will cooperate closely with the relevant EU stakeholders to ensure that EU civilian policies appropriately reflect defence needs. EDA will also forge stronger and more structured ties with the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission services and contribute its expertise to current and future EU defence initiatives, policies, and legislation related to the capability development cycle and beyond.